Whether evaluating patients for asthma or for COPD, spirometry is a critical and required part of the diagnostic process. Some primary care practices perform office spirometry, while many of us refer patients to PFT clinics and/or pulmonologists or allergists for evaluation and testing. Interpretation of spirometry can be challenging and not knowing normal values can be a limitation, although most spirometers provide results that include predicted values in addition to the patients’ actual results.

Previously on iMedicalApps, we favorably reviewed the PFT Eval app by Dr. Joshua Steinberg, the GOLD Pocket Guide COPD app, the COPD Pocket Consultant app, and numerous asthma apps as well as medical calculator apps such as MDCalc, Calculate by QxMD, and MedCalx.

This new standalone Spiro Calculator, however, is unique in that it performs only this function and uses the internationally accepted 2012 Global Lung Initiative (GLI) standards. The app is easy to use and rapidly displays the results, but it contains no references, basic developer information, or how to interpret the results.

The Spiro Calculator does just one thing: predicted and low normal spirometry values. It performs this calculation quickly and accurately. The app does not contain any information about its references, alternatives for calculations, or how to interpret the results. It is a bare-bones calculator, but one that is not included in most calculator apps. For those who need these values quickly and on their mobile device, Spiro Calculator could be a good option, but likely has limited generalizability/use across primary care except those performing office spirometry (and nearly all spirometers will provide this information).

Likes

• Simple to input data/view results
• Includes both predicted values and lower limits of normal values
• Fills void for a standalone calculator for spirometry values

Dislikes

• No background information/directions/interpretation, no European values
• Relatively expensive for a standalone calculator available in other apps
• Not available for Android

This post appeared on iMedicalApps.com.

Last Updated January 24, 2020